Politics Election category, Page 124
W.Va. Sen. Joe Manchin announces he won’t run for president in 2024
WASHINGTON — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced on Friday that he is not running for president, saying he didn’t want to be a “spoiler.” “I will not be seeking a third-party run. I will not be involved in a presidential run,” he said in a speech at West Virginia...
House members raise questions about Speaker Johnson’s invite of ‘hate preacher’
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are asking for answers after a guest chaplain known for his incendiary preaching was sponsored by Speaker Mike Johnson to give the House’s daily opening prayer last month, according to a letter sent to the speaker and the Office of the Chaplain signed by 26 Democratic House...
Trump’s New York hush-money case will start March 25 — the 1st of his criminal trials
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hush-money trial will go ahead as scheduled with jury selection starting March 25, a New York judge ruled Thursday, turning aside demands for delay from the former president’s defense lawyers, who argued it would interfere with his campaign to retake the White House. The decision...
Democrats embrace tougher border enforcement, seeing Trump’s demolition of deal as a ‘gift’
WASHINGTON — The Senate’s border proposal was one of the toughest bipartisan bills to emerge on the issue in decades. Yet it quickly collapsed when Republicans — galvanized by Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee — rejected the compromise as insufficient. Now Democrats see an opening. Senate Majority Leader...
Trump on pace to drain legal funds by July, with only $27 million left
Donald Trump will likely drain his war chest for legal fees this summer, leaving the GOP front-runner crunched for cash just as his presidential campaign ramps up spending for an expected rematch with President Joe Biden. Trump spent $51.2 million in 2023 on legal expenses, and can tap another $26.6...
West Virginia bill defining gender is transphobic and ‘political rubbish,’ Democrats say
CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s Republican-supermajority House of Delegates overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday to narrow the definitions of gender that Democrats label as a dystopian bill that would give women no additional rights and is a way for the GOP to suppress transgender people. The bill passed on an 87-12 vote...
House Intelligence Committee chair warns of a serious national security threatVideo
WASHINGTON — The Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Wednesday to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat. A senior congressional aide speaking to The Associated Press pointed to concerns about Russian anti-satellite weapons. Rep. Mike Turner gave no details...
Shapiro, visiting Mt. Lebanon, blasts GOP critics of budget proposal
Gov. Josh Shapiro came out swinging against his Republican critics Wednesday during a visit to Mt. Lebanon. Shapiro was touring the South Hills community’s Washington Road commercial corridor to boost his budget proposal and advocate for increased state funding for main street improvements across Pennsylvania. He is proposing $25 million...
Democrat Tom Suozzi wins New York race to succeed George Santos in Congress
Democrat Tom Suozzi has won a special election in New York for the U.S. House seat that was left vacant when Republican George Santos was expelled from Congress. Suozzi defeated Republican Mazi Pilip to retake a seat he held for three terms before giving it up to run, unsuccessfully, for...
Western Pa. candidates line up for spring primary
Republican Rep. Jill Cooper will have a primary challenger this spring for her Murrysville-based seat in the state House. Cooper, the first-term incumbent, appears to be the lone member of Westmoreland County’s state House delegation to face a primary challenge. Nomination petitions to appear on the April 23 primary ballot...
GOP-led House impeaches Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas — by 1 vote — over border managementVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with the Republican majority determined to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border after failing last week in a politically embarrassing setback. The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s...
Treasury Secretary Yellen visits Pittsburgh, won’t tip hand about review of pending U.S. Steel sale
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday became the latest Biden administration official to visit Pittsburgh, where she toured a hospital and touted the president’s efforts to expand health care access and lower prescription drug costs. Hosted by U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, Yellen toured West Penn Hospital, held a...
Trump’s threat to NATO allies draws little condemnation from GOP
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s claim that he once told a NATO ally that he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to “delinquent” members of the group sent shockwaves through Europe over the weekend. But in Washington, most Republicans downplayed or defended remarks that seemed to invite...
Biden warns opposing Ukraine funding plays ‘into Putin’s hands,’ but faces resistance in HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for House Republicans to urgently bring a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote, warning that refusal to take up the bill, passed by the Senate in the morning, would be “playing into Putin’s hands.” “Supporting this...
House speaker casts doubts on Ukraine and Israel aid package as senators grind toward final vote
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson late Monday sharply criticized a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other countries, casting serious doubts about the future of the package just as Senate leaders were slowly muscling it toward a final vote. Senate leaders, trying to send a message that...
Trump wants to install new RNC leadership, including his daughter-in-law as co-chair
NEW YORK — Donald Trump called Monday night for a leadership change at the Republican National Committee in an attempt to install a new slate of loyalists — including his daughter-in-law — atop the GOP’s political machine even before the former president formally secures the party’s next presidential nomination. Current...
Tom Suozzi, Mazi Melesa Pilip enter final stretch in New York race for George Santos’ seat
Voters in eastern Queens and Long Island are due to make their call Tuesday in a special congressional election to replace George Santos, with Tom Suozzi and Mazi Melesa Pilip on the ballot. The race, which has taken a deeply negative tenor, has appeared to be less a referendum on...
Republican Michigan lawmaker loses staff and committee assignment after online racist post
A Republican lawmaker in Michigan lost his committee assignment and staff Monday, days after posting an image of a racist ideology on social media. House Speaker Joe Tate, a Democrat who is Black, said he will not allow the House to be a forum for “racist, hateful and bigoted speech.”...
In a first for Summer Lee, Allegheny County Dems back the incumbent congresswoman
Allegheny County Democrats on Sunday endorsed U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, marking the first time that the progressive lawmaker has secured the local party’s backing in what is expected to be a hotly contested primary election. Lee, who has had a somewhat contentious relationship with Southwest Pennsylvania’s Democratic establishment, secured...
How Trump urging Russia to invade ‘delinquent’ NATO members distorts how the alliance works
WARSAW, Poland — Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican Party’s nomination this year, says he once warned that he would allow Russia to do whatever it wants to NATO member nations that are “delinquent” in devoting 2% of their gross domestic product to defense. Trump’s comment on Saturday represented...
Trump asks Supreme Court to put off his election interference trial, claiming immunity
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to extend the delay in his election interference trial, saying he is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss. His lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the court on Monday, just four days...
First lady questions whether special counsel referenced son’s death to score political points
WILMINGTON, Del. — First lady Jill Biden said in an email to campaign donors on Saturday she didn’t know what the special counsel was trying to achieve when he suggested President Joe Biden could not remember his son’s death. “We should give everyone grace, and I can’t imagine someone would...
Trump says he warned NATO ally: Spend more on defense or Russia can ‘do whatever the hell they want’
NEW YORK — Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Saturday that, as president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances. Speaking at a rally...
Uproar over Biden classified documents report carries echoes of 2016 Clinton email case
WASHINGTON — The release of a harshly critical Justice Department special counsel report on President Joe Biden has triggered instant flashbacks to history-shaping events of 2016. That’s when FBI Director James Comey castigated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over her email practices despite recommending against charges. In this year’s already heated...
A canceled Pitt event for congressional candidate heats up 12th District race
The University of Pittsburgh recently canceled a speaking event with a local congressional candidate, adding tension to a three-way Democratic contest among Allegheny and Westmoreland county voters that is becoming increasingly contentious, and local political experts predict things will only get louder and nastier in the run up to the...
